Brushstrokes of Balance: Let's Please Talk About Menopause

Wen Shen is on a mission to raise awareness about menopause, as a boom of women hit mid-life in the U.S. 

(The following is an edited excerpt from John Hopkins University's blog - HUB. Emily Gaines Buchler is the author of the article.) 

When Shen is the director of the Women's Wellness & Healthy Aging Program at Johns Hopkins, she will appear in the PBS documentary The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause to help sound the alarm about the dire need for more research on and support for women in and beyond midlife and debunk misinformation and stigmas surrounding this natural life phase that all women who live through midlife go through.

The M Factor is the first-ever widely publicized documentary on menopause in the United States. Given the dearth of quality resources and information available to women and even health care providers nationwide, this reality doesn't surprise Shen and her colleagues. It comes on the heels of a proposed bipartisan U.S. congressional bill, The Menopause Research and Equity Act of 2023, for the National Institutes of Health to review existing research on women at midlife—and to fund additional research to fill in knowledge gaps, "of which there are many," Shen says.

 

Read more about The M Factor.

About 'Brushstrokes of Balance: Art of Women's Health'

If you have a story, new research, or artwork ideal for Brushstrokes of Balance: The Art of Women's Health - send your pitches to TamikaCodyJournalist@gmail.com. Please include "Women's Health" in the subject line.

Brushstrokes of Balance: The Art of Women's Health

As women age, they must carefully maintain a delicate balance to support their health. But how? 

Navigating the intricate world of women's health, especially during life stages like perimenopause and menopause, can be overwhelming. Despite these transitions' profound impact on our lives, mainstream media often sidelines these conversations. As a journalist currently experiencing the shifts of perimenopause firsthand, I understand the emotional, physical, and mental toll this can take.

My new column, Brushstrokes of Balance: The Art of Women's Health, will serve as a space to explore the diverse facets of women's health. Through articles, news, research, and artistic expression, this column will highlight stories that empower women to control their well-being and understand how their bodies evolve in their later stages of life. 

Given that this art influences some of these discussions, I also plan to showcase artists who use their work to explore the nuances of women's health.

My goal is to explore the science, the stories, and the art of finding balance in a time when women's bodies and minds are undergoing significant transformation. 

Welcome to a digital nook where women's health is not just discussed behind closed doors but celebrated, explored and understood.

If you have a story, new research, or artwork ideal for Brushstrokes of Balance: The Art of Women's Health - send your pitches to TamikaCodyJournalist@gmail.com. Please include "Women's Health" in the subject line.

It's Never to Late to Pursue a Career in Art: Annie Frances Lee

                         Annie Frances Lee                                                                       Blue Monday

Artist Annie Frances Lee was born on March 3, 1935 in Gadsden, Ala. Raised by a single parent, she grew up in Chicago, Ill., and attended Wendell Phillips High School. 

Lee began painting at an early age, winning her first art competition at the age of 10. Lee was offered a four-year scholarship to attend Northwestern University after high school, but married instead and raised a family.

It was not until age 40 that Lee decided to pursue a career as an artist. She enrolled in Loop Junior College and completed her undergraduate work at Mundelein College in Chicago. 

After eight years of night classes, while working at Northwestern Railroad as a clerk in the engineering department, Lee earned her M.A. degree in interdisciplinary arts education from Loyola University. 

Lee’s railroad job inspired one of her most popular paintings, "Blue Monday," which depicts a woman struggling to pull herself out of bed on a Monday morning. Her trademarks are the animated emotion of the personalities in the artwork and the faces which are painted without features. 

At age 50, Lee had her first gallery show; she allowed prints to be made of four of her original paintings. Using her unique designs, Lee also developed figurines, high fashion dolls, decorative housewares, and kitchen tiles.

After showing her work in other galleries for a number of years, Lee opened Annie Lee and Friends Gallery where she displayed her works as well as the works of other artists. 

When several of her paintings appeared on the sets of popular television shows such as The Cosby Show and A Different World, the exposure helped popularize her work. Although she regularly received requests for public appearances, Lee preferred to appear at gallery shows; she also enjoyed visiting schools to encourage and inspire students. 

She passed away on November 14, 2014, at the age of 79.

Source: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/annie-lee-41

Katherine Johnson: The Woman who Evolved at NASA

Black History Month continues to be educational and motivational. It's amazing what I found throughout social media feeds. I recently came across another accolade of Black American history. This time it revolves around a mathematician and her work with NASA.

(Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson)

* The following was spotted on Facebook and edited for clarity

A White man may have been the first to walk on the moon but, Katherine Johnson, a Black mathematician, got him there. 

A math genius, Johnson entered West Virginia State University, a Historically Black College, at the age 15. While there, professors at the campus competed to have the Johnson in their classes. 

Miss. Needy vs. Miss. Independent

The other day the image on the right hand side of your screen managed to hit my Facebook news feed.

The post triggered a memory from a conversation I had with an old family friend that turned into a heated debate about independent women.

My family friend, who I'll call Bruce, is on his second marriage and is now mulling around the idea of a second divorce. "I've decided to just call it quits and pay alimony."

That's two women and two children he's taking care of. I asked him what the problem might be. "It seems that I only date needy women." I quickly corrected him and told him that he was attracted and drawn to needy women. "When you've settled your heart and mind after your divorce you may want to consider dating independent women," I advised.